'Boaters' Paradise' Proposed for Marina del Rey

Big Name Anchors -- Marina del Rey boat owners are the reason behind many of the various enhancements planned for Pier 44, which range from a proposed West Marine store and a boaters lounge to a Trader Joes market, for convenient provisioning.

By: Ambrosia Brody

MARINA DEL REY -- Some new additions may be headed for Marina del Rey’s Pier 44, if the Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors’ Department of Regional Planning approves a proposed project that would construct a boaters’ lounge and a large marine chandlery, among other amenities at the 13-acre site.

“Our proposed development plan for Pier 44 can certainly be called a ‘Boaters’ Paradise,’” wrote developer Jack Hollander, of Jack Hollander and Associates Inc. “The project has been designed to provide boaters the amenities and functions they require.”

The proposal was recently reviewed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors’ Design Control Board during a special meeting, where board members approved the project but asked the developer to return with modifications to the plans.

According to Patricia Younis of the Bridge Group, who represents the developer, Design Control Board commissioners asked the developer to return with revised site plans that will provide more view corridors along the water and a diagonal crosswalk to the entryway of the project site.

“We will come back with a wider view of the water from Admiralty Way, and a direct walking area that goes across the corner to the entry, into the parking lot of the project,” Younis said.

Staff members will also continue to work with South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club on its request for more dry storage for boats, she added. “We will work with the yacht club until they are happy,” she added.

The commission’s approval of the project allows it to move on to the Los Angeles Regional Design Control Board. Scoping meetings will be scheduled in September to allow for additional public comments.

The project also will require an Environmental Impact Study and a traffic study.

The waterside portion of the project was previously approved by the California Coastal Commission. Dinghy docks and a water taxi landing are included in those plans.

There are 198 slips in the current Pier 44 marina, with slips ranging in size from 25 to 35 feet, and some end ties. The majority of slips are doubles.

The slip plan approved by the Coastal Commission would offer 141 slips ranging in size from 25 to 60 feet -- all singles. Eighty-three percent of the slips in the new plan are 36 feet in length and smaller, and most of those are 30 feet. The slip reduction is primarily due to Americans with Disability Act requirements for access specifications and other required changes for new marinas, Younis said.

According to the proposal submitted by Jack Hollander and Associates Inc. for the applicant, Pacific Marine Ventures LLC, the plans call for proposed improvements to the parcel that comprises approximately 8.39 acres landside and 4.68 acres waterside.

The property -- which sits on Admiralty Way, Mindanao Way and Bali Way -- currently includes three yacht brokers, a boat maintenance and repair shop, South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club, an office building and boaters’ restrooms.

The applicant has worked closely with the Department of Beaches and Harbors, the Department of Public Works and the Planning Department on the redesign of the waterside and landside components of the project. From those discussions, the developer has tried to create “an environment which provides great services to boaters and local residents while attracting visitors from surrounding communities,” according to the report.

Several goals of the project have been established by the applicant, including increasing and improving view corridors, providing significantly improved public access to the water, improving boaters’ access to restroom and shower facilities, providing a boaters’ lounge and community room, and providing for the relocation and enhancement of existing yacht brokers’ on-site facilities.

Bringing a major retailer, such as West Marine store, to the corner of Mindanao Way and Admiralty Way to serve boaters’ needs for supplies -- and including a specialty market, such as a Trader Joe’s, on Mindanao Way to provide convenient provisioning options for boaters -- are also proposed in the project’s plans.

“Accommodating boaters was of the utmost importance when designing Pier 44,” Hollander wrote in the proposal.

As proposed, a boaters’ lounge would be located on the second floor of the designated “West Marine building.”

“Laundry facilities have also been included adjacent to the boaters’ lounge, so boaters can wait in the lounge while they do their laundry,” Hollander wrote.

As designed, boaters would be able to buy boats, purchase boat parts and store their boats, as well as buy food and beverages, without leaving the site, he added. Pacific Marine Ventures is currently in talks with a restaurant for the lease of the 8,000 square foot restaurant property on the site.

The developer hopes to break ground on the project in 2015, pending coordination with the county.

My vision: Clean Fuel, Clean Restrooms/showers, cheap ice, cold beer, and a place to moor.
Why does county always think too big. Us boaters are simple people with simple needs. County wants to spend our tax dollars on frills, not necessities.

Posted By: Cliff Klinert On: 8/1/2013

Title: A boater's "paradise?"

Boat owners need a place to tie up the boat, a place to park the car, and a fuel dock. Anything more? Oh, yes, a fuel dock.

Posted By: John On: 8/1/2013

Title: A boater's "paradise?"

And another traffic nightmare on an already overburdened Admiralty Way.